UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told European Council President Donald Tusk that Britain will be leaving the European Union on October 31 whatever the circumstances, an official said on Sunday after the two met at the G7 summit in France.

Johnson told Tusk that his preference remained to seek a deal with the EU and repeated that he would be willing to sit down and talk with EU leaders, the British official said.

An EU official said nothing substantive or new emerged in talks between the two leaders. 

And both sides confirmed the two will meet again at the United Nations General Assembly next month.

Read more:

Boris meets world: UK PM takes first steps on global stage

Before their meeting, the UK prime minister threatened to cross off a 39-billion-pound (47.88 billion U.S. dollars) divorce bill agreed by his predecessor Theresa May.

"I think what the entire European Union understands is that if we come out without a deal then... the 39 billion is no longer legally pledged," Johnson told Sky News, when asked if he had told EU leaders this week he planned to withhold the money.

"As I've said many, many times we will therefore on November 1 have very substantial sums available from that 39 billion to spend on supporting our farmers...and indeed for investment in all sorts of areas."

In June, a source close to French President Emmanuel Macron said that failing to pay the Brexit bill would amount to a sovereign debt default and on Wednesday an official in his office said that leaving without a deal would not remove Britain's obligation to pay.

The EU has repeatedly said it will not start negotiating a new trade deal with Britain before the issues of money, the Irish border and citizens rights are settled, so it is likely to return to the fore as a precondition for the EU to start trade talks after Brexit if Britain refuses to pay.

Earlier in an interview with the BBC, Johnson said the likelihood of a Brexit deal depends on the EU now, while he also told the BBC that he could easily cope with a no-deal Brexit scenario.

"I think it's going to be touch and go, but the important thing is to get ready to come out without a deal," he told the BBC on the sidelines of the summit.

Johnson, who took office last month, faces the pressing deadline to take the UK out of the EU by October 31, with or without a deal. 

(With input from Reuters) 

(Cover: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson meets European Union Council President Donald Tusk at a bilateral meeting during the G7 summit in Biarritz, France, August 25, 2019. /VCG Photo)